Tokyo (SCCIJ) – After a construction period of almost five years, Swatch has inaugurated its new headquarters in Biel. The Japanese star architect Shigeru Ban designed one of the world’s most massive timber structures. Heralding a new chapter in the history of the brand, this building defies current conventions, just like the watches that are created there.
New Swatch Headquarters in Biel with its massive timber structure
Renowned architect
Born in 1957 in Tokyo and winner of the 2014 Pritzker Prize, the equivalent to a Nobel Prize for architects, Shigeru Ban is known for his delicate structures and unconventional methods as well as his decisive contribution to innovation and humanity in architecture. Swatch Group collaborated with the architect for the first time at the Nicolas G. Hayek Center in Tokyo that opened in 2007.
In 2011, his design won the Swatch Group’s architectural competition for the construction of the new Swatch Headquarters, the new Omega Manufacture, and the Cité du Temps, particularly convincing with its original yet pragmatic concept as well as the ability to respect the brand-specific spirit for each of these buildings. Moreover, Shigeru Ban had taken the existing landscape and buildings into account and integrated them into the overall project.
Shigeru Ban, architect, left, Nayla Hayek, chairman of Swatch Group AG, center, and Nick Hayek, chief executive officer of Swatch Group AG, cut a ribbon during the ceremony to inaugurate the new Swatch Group AG global headquarters in Biel.
Daring building
The shimmering, curved silhouette of the new Swatch building extends over a total length of 240 meters and a width of 35 meters. At its highest point, the façade measures 27 meters. The unusual design breaks with the conventions of a classic office building architecture and blends harmoniously into the urban environment. The building’s forms awaken the imagination – like a work of art, the interpretation lies in the eye of the beholder.
The vaulted façade with an area of over 11,000 m2 rises gently towards the entrance and transitions to the Cité du Temps. The exterior and interior of the building are interspersed with a variety of leitmotifs, with curved shapes, colors, and transparency, as well as with the unusual use of classic materials and building elements.
Also designed by Shigeru Ban, the Cité du Temps, measuring 80 x 17 x 28 meters, forms an independent architectural unit that perfectly complements the Swatch building. The Cité du Temps hosts both the Omega Museum, located on the 1st floor, as well as PLANET SWATCH on the 2nd floor. The Nicolas G. Hayek Conference Hall on the 4th floor, which is reserved for Swatch Group, stands out with its elliptical shape.
The unusual design of the building blends harmoniously into the urban environment.
Sustainable Swatch Headquarters
A timber grid shell construction with 4,600 beams forms the basic structure of the large-area façade. The traditional material was chosen for its ecological and sustainable properties. Only timber from Swiss forests – mainly spruce – was used in the construction. A total of just under 1,997 cubic meters of this was needed, a quantity that regrows in the Swiss forest in less than two hours.
Clever use of groundwater to heat and cool the building and solar power from the photovoltaic system make a significant contribution to an optimum CO2 balance. From Velospot bicycle sharing and charging stations to intelligent blackouts and glazing, from LED lighting and highly efficient ventilation systems to thermal component activation and paperless offices: the new Swatch building demonstrates that modern construction and modern ways of working can be in harmony with nature.
Text and photos: Swatch Group
